Posts about Preservation

To help meet DC’s goal of generating 100% of its energy renewably by 2032 and 10% with solar power by 2041, a likely zoning change will make it easier to build community solar “farms” on the ground and atop garages. But, not surprisingly, some people object, wanting neighbors to have opportunities to speak up in opposition before any solar installations can be built. Keep reading…

The Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal in Georgetown is largely a desolate place, but a new plan aims to bring life back to the canal as it historically had. But not everyone thinks a livelier C&O Canal is a good idea, particularly the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, which has called the plans an ill-advised attempt to recreate New York’s wildly sucessful “High Line” park. Keep reading…

The Historic Preservation Office (HPO) recommends not turning Barry Farm into a historic dwelling. A vote on the future of the public housing neighborhood in Southeast DC won’t happen until July 11 by the Historic Preservation Review Board. Keep reading…

At 16th and S streets NW in Dupont Circle is a prominent Masonic building, known officially as the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry temple. The Masons want to redevelop the patch of grass and parking lot behind the building, and they’ve gotten approval from the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B and the Historic Preservation Review Board to do so. Keep reading…

A group of residents has filed a historic landmark application in a last-ditch attempt to block an apartment building on the site adjacent to the Scottish Rite Temple in Dupont Circle on 15th Street NW. But rather than arguing for the preservation of the area’s history, the applicants want to fix what they see as a historic mistake. Keep reading…

A statue of Benjamin Franklin stands on the southeast corner of 12th St. and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. A sheaf of papers in his left hand, Franklin gestures with his right as if arguing a point of policy. He faces the avenue, his back turned to the Old Post Office Building currently occupied by the Trump Hotel. Keep reading…

Train stations are the perfect nexus of transit and architecture geekdom. They’re monuments to all the things that urbanists hold dear. Luckily, the Washington area is full of wonderful examples of historic depots, big and small. Keep reading…

Reston's debate over a routine but nonetheless controversial zoning change may be over for now, as the Fairfax County Board deferred action on the matter earlier in March. Opponents feared the update would lead to Reston changing too much, but the zoning rule at the heart of the debate was never meant to address the issues many thought it did. Keep reading…

In a staff report released last week, the Historic Preservation Office (HPO) largely agreed with the owners of the Palisades Safeway that their property does not merit historic designation. The Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) will review the case and make a final decision this Thursday. Keep reading…

If a homeowner wants to put solar panels on a roof facing a street, is that a laudable step toward fighting climate change or an affront to historic preservation? With a recent preservation board ruling, DC's historic preservation system took one very small step toward tolerance of visible solar panels, at least in some cases. Keep reading…

Don’t be fooled by its homely appearance, the empty lot at 3601 M St NW in Georgetown (formerly an Exxon station) is one of the hottest pieces of real estate in town. It’s also now the centerpiece of a historic preservation decision that could have far-reaching consequences. Keep reading…

In DC’s historic preservation process, all nominations start with an application. Often composed by professional historians and/or architectural experts, the application lays out the history of the property and explains how it meets the designation criteria provided in the preservation law. Except when it doesn’t. Keep reading…

In her second inaugural address, DC mayor Muriel Bowser called for 36,000 new homes in DC, 240,000 in the Washington region, and targets for overall homes, workforce homes, and deeply affordable homes in every ward and neighborhood of the District. It's a bold vision. Keep reading…

One of the most complicated (and perhaps uncomfortable) conversations people can have is about death. How will we choose to remember others or have others remember us? As urbanists, we can look at this topic from another lens too: the way we use land for our burial rituals, and how those practices might shift as our population grows and our housing shortage increases. Keep reading…

The Scottish Rite Masonic temple in Dupont Circle plans to build apartments on some empty space behind its building. One element of the project is two levels of apartments below the ground level. This has raised the question: is underground living an abomination, or something people can choose to pay for as they wish? Keep reading…

There are 21 Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) seats this year with no one on the ballot: no candidate registered before this summer’s deadline. Write-in candidates for seven of those empty seats filled out our candidate questionnaire, as well as a few in contested races. Here are their responses and our endorsements. Keep reading…

Bloomingdale, Trinidad, Brookland, Fort Totten — these are a few of the neighborhoods included in Ward 5, which covers much of Northeast DC. There are 16 contested races for the ward's Advisory Neighborhood Commissions this year, some with four different candidates running! Out of these, we found seven who deserve your vote. Keep reading…

East of the Anacostia River, the southern half of the area is Ward 8, which contains neighborhoods such as Historic Anacostia, Barry Farm, Congress Heights, and Shipley Terrace. Neighborhood leaders here have an eye on what the future holds for the ward, as the cranes that have long been visible across the banks in Southwest DC are starting to make their way into Ward 8. Keep reading…

When tourists visit DC, they spend most of their time in Ward 2 — it’s home to Georgetown, Dupont and Logan Circles, downtown, and the Mall. But for those of you who call these places home, this November you have a number of candidates to choose between for local office. Keep reading…